Hamas Papers Show Effort to Block Israel-Saudi Normalization

Documents seized in Gaza and analyzed by the Institute for Terrorism Research and Information show that Hamas’s preparations for the October 7, 2023 attack were driven in part by a desire to derail normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The papers reveal internal discussions in Hamas leadership before the assault, and indicate that the group viewed a Saudi deal, pursued within the Abraham Accords framework, as a strategic threat.

According to the documents, Hamas set up a dedicated office in February 2022 to manage its anti-normalization strategy. Its role was to oversee the organization’s vision and coordinate actions across all components. The materials also say Hamas believed escalation in Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem was needed to slow the normalization process, drawing lessons from the Second Intifada.

Two weeks before the attack, Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar convened a key meeting in which he warned of the severe consequences of normalization with Saudi Arabia and called it an “extraordinary action.” Sinwar said the move had to produce “a major shock or a strategic shift” in the regional balance of power. He also said Hamas had to disrupt the political process in order to preserve its position and deny legitimacy to agreements with Israel.

The documents portray the October 7 operation as a planned and calculated campaign, not a spontaneous one. Hamas leadership appears to have regarded a Saudi normalization deal as a threat to the Palestinian issue and to the group’s regional standing, and saw coordinated escalation in the territories as part of an effort to stop the diplomatic process and sustain the “axis of resistance.”